text messages
Money
2:30PM Angus Kidman | Optus subsidiary Boost Mobile is offering 5-cent texts to any network as part of a prepaid plan. That offer might be appealing to teenagers, but does it really make financial sense? More »
Are 5-Cent Texts The Best Deal?
2:30PM Angus Kidman | Optus subsidiary Boost Mobile is offering 5-cent texts to any network as part of a prepaid plan. That offer might be appealing to teenagers, but does it really make financial sense? More » 
Communicate
8:59PM Angus Kidman | While Australian users of Twitter can send updates via SMS if they’re prepared to pay for a text to the UK, there’s currently no option for receiving updates the same way. However, in a post discussing a recent deal allowing Twitter updates to be by Canadian users, Twitter also promises that Australia is in the running for a similar service:
Stay tuned for more support all over the globe as we make progress. And fear not Australia–you’re on the list too!
How long it will take is anyone’s guess. No doubt the big issue is that Aussies receive texts at no charge, unlike US plans where the recipient typically pays (so if a deal does go ahead, it will almost certainly be single-network and very possibly tied to a particular plan).
For Whom The Bell Texts [Twitter Blog]
More »
Twitter Promises Two-Way SMS For Australia
8:59PM Angus Kidman | While Australian users of Twitter can send updates via SMS if they’re prepared to pay for a text to the UK, there’s currently no option for receiving updates the same way. However, in a post discussing a recent deal allowing Twitter updates to be by Canadian users, Twitter also promises that Australia is in the running for a similar service:
Stay tuned for more support all over the globe as we make progress. And fear not Australia–you’re on the list too!
How long it will take is anyone’s guess. No doubt the big issue is that Aussies receive texts at no charge, unlike US plans where the recipient typically pays (so if a deal does go ahead, it will almost certainly be single-network and very possibly tied to a particular plan).
For Whom The Bell Texts [Twitter Blog]
More »
Communicate
4:30PM Angus Kidman | Lifehacker reader and IT consultant Alex C writes in with this useful tip for iPhone users:
I am a bilingual Aussie and often have to type SMS in another language which is really annoying with the autocorrect feature trying to sub in English words all the time. Rather than switching the Autocorrect on/off constantly, I found it easier to type a single character in the SMS pane, like a ‘z’, and then move the cursor immediately in front of this letter. This then disables the autocorrect because it knows you are not at the end of the word and won’t try replacing it. After typing the entire SMS with the ‘z’ at the end, simply remove the letter and SEND. Ta-da!
I haven’t been able to test this myself (the iPhone and I were never meant to be together), but it sounds a handy hint. Thanks Alex! More »
Stop The iPhone’s AutoCorrect Feature Ruining Your SMS Messages
4:30PM Angus Kidman | Lifehacker reader and IT consultant Alex C writes in with this useful tip for iPhone users:
I am a bilingual Aussie and often have to type SMS in another language which is really annoying with the autocorrect feature trying to sub in English words all the time. Rather than switching the Autocorrect on/off constantly, I found it easier to type a single character in the SMS pane, like a ‘z’, and then move the cursor immediately in front of this letter. This then disables the autocorrect because it knows you are not at the end of the word and won’t try replacing it. After typing the entire SMS with the ‘z’ at the end, simply remove the letter and SEND. Ta-da!
I haven’t been able to test this myself (the iPhone and I were never meant to be together), but it sounds a handy hint. Thanks Alex! More »
Communicate
9:00AM Angus Kidman | Telstra is predicting that 76 million text messages will get sent on its networks on New Year’s Eve, and that’s before you add in Vodafone, Optus and 3. While some people think traditional communication is better for major events like Christmas, it’s hard to argue with the utility of texting if you’re in the city centre struggling to find a consistent signal. On the other hand, texting isn’t the only high-tech option — if you’ve got a Net-enabled phone, Twitter and Facebook can also look appealing. How do you plan to communicate tonight? Pic by Alex Sims from Wikimedia Commons More »
Will You Go Text-Crazy For New Year?
9:00AM Angus Kidman | Telstra is predicting that 76 million text messages will get sent on its networks on New Year’s Eve, and that’s before you add in Vodafone, Optus and 3. While some people think traditional communication is better for major events like Christmas, it’s hard to argue with the utility of texting if you’re in the city centre struggling to find a consistent signal. On the other hand, texting isn’t the only high-tech option — if you’ve got a Net-enabled phone, Twitter and Facebook can also look appealing. How do you plan to communicate tonight? Pic by Alex Sims from Wikimedia Commons More »
Communicate
Archive Your Texts With iPhone Backup SMS Extractor
3:00AM Lifehacker US Edition | If you don’t like the idea of your iPhone’s SMS logs getting trapped in iTunes, or you just want have a plain-text copy to play around with, you can upload iTunes’ binary archive to the iPhone backup SMS extractor webapp and get back the text. It’s particularly useful for iPhone owners who use Windows to sync and or Mac users who can’t get Syphone to work. But the grep command used to find the archive on your hard drive will work equally well in Mac OS X Terminal. This method is not as complicated as jailbreaking your phone to pull SMS data into a spreadsheet, but since you’re sending your data to a web site, it’s not as private or secure. Thanks, WareNuddles! iPhone backup SMS extractor More »
Communicate
